Almaza Pilsner Beer | Brasserie Almaza S.A.L.

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my first beer from the middle east, i think. enjoyed at house of kebob on colorado boulevard. pours darker than most of these light pilsners, sort of brassy in color, almost no head. beer looks almost flat in the glass. smell is some light middle of the road rather neutral malts, and balanced out bittering hops only, maybe kent goldings or something low key. flavor is similarly basic, but none of that gross adjuncty taste the american versions all have. my girlfriend actually really enjoyed this beer. i thought it worked well with my lamb kebobs and hummus. feel was weak, i have to subtract for the lack of carbonation, just totally absent, but i also have to add back on because it actually did have some body, which is welcomed here. overall im glad i tried this, but its nothing special.

A: The beer is crystal clear straw yellow in color and has a light to moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a half finger high bright white head that quickly died down but left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface.
S: Light to moderate aromas of sweet bready malts and corn are present in the nose along with some faint hints of grassy hops.
T: The taste is similar to the smell and has a bit of sweetness. Little, if any bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels a bit more than light-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Despite coming in a green bottle, I was pleasantly surprised by this beer and thought it surpassed any of the typical adjunct lagers you typically see from foreign countries. It also paired well with the Lebanese food I had for dinner.

330ml bottle. Grabbed a six pack of this for an (expense account supported, natch) work function - the novelty of anything alcoholic originating from the land where the concept of booze is a non-starter, was too much to resist. Not cheap, though, at 18 bucks for the sixer.

This purported Pilsner-style lager pours a clear, medium golden yellow colour, with one fat finger of weakly puffy, and rather loosely foamy, dirty white head, which leaves a bit of ocean upswell lace, and I didn't have to wait all that long for it to go down.

It smells of semi-sweet wet pale grain, like the smell of a field of wheat or barley after the rain, very cereal-like, a bit of white wine, and quite mild floral, weedy hops. The taste is mostly gritty, grainy cereal malt, a suggestion of adjunct corn meal, watery clover honey, and herbal, musty hops slightly poking through.

A subtly frothy carbonation provides a decently capable, and smooth mouthfeel, the body medium-light in weight, with no alcohol readily apparent. It finishes just off-dry, still a bit cereal-oriented, yet with no nasty aftertaste, as if I was expecting something of the sort.

All in all, a more or less beginner's Pilsner, one better than the usual corporate dreck denoted as such, but hardly in the same league as the Central European standards. I could probably have a few of these before wanting something a bit more fully flavoured.

Served in a bottle at Mooney's Mediterranean Cafe in Winston-Salem, NC

A: Pours a crystal clear pale yellow in color with some moderate amounts of golden yellow highlights and heavy amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a finger tall bright white head that quickly reduces to a patchy thin film covering the majority of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Light to moderate aromas of bready malts with a light hint of graininess and some light amounts of grassy and floral hops.

T: Very similar to the smell, the taste of this beer starts out with a moderate amount of bready malts with a light hint of grainy sweetness to it. That is followed by light flavors of grassy and floral hops. The hops contribute a light amount of bitterness which fades quickly.

M: Light to medium bodied with moderate to heavy amounts of carbonation.

O: This is a pretty decent beer, my first from Lebanon, and exceeded my expectations considering it came in a green bottle (though it lacked the skunkiness I have come to expect with that type of packaging). Easy to drink and sessionable, though I would expect it to be best when served ice cold as I had mine.

The color is light golden yellow. Head is medium-sized and mildly rocky. The aroma is of light sweet graininess. Taste is lightly sweet, grainy, and dry. The is most reminiscent of something like Beck's or St. Pauli Girl; that is that this is totally average and non-offensive. If I were in Lebanon I'd drink plenty, but in this market it is too expensive and not good enough to warrant buying.

A: The beer is a dirty gold color, with a large white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains pungent light malts, lager yeast and some hops.

T: The taste starts out a little bit of malt thin sweetness followed by some breadiness of lager yeast and grain. The hops presence is mild but brings some balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet and slightly bready.

Had this at a local Mediterranean restaurant last night to go with the Lebanese food I had.Poured into a chilled glass a dull lighter yellow with a larger but quick to fade white head.Aromas of sweet aromas along with cooked veg,kinda unpleasant really.Flavors are pretty sweet up front with that "adjunct" vegetal and corn flavor,the aftertaste was off.We drank it ice cold,I couldnt imagine not.

Faint hint of lemon, rather sharp flavor. Pours a light golden. Normal head, decent carbonation. Spritzy with a light mouthfeel. Tang of bitterness emerges in the aftertaste. A little bit of dirty cardboard is the main flavor. Malt may have been used somewhere in the manufacturing process.

Refreshing at first gulp, but utterly standard kind of lager. I think it's an American Adjunct Lager, but the line seems to be blurred with these multi-national pale beers. In any case, if you're comparing to actual German Pilseners this is not a competitor.

I believe, if I am not mistaken, that this beer came to me courtesy of my local, in-person trader @tone77 & yet I do not see a review from him. Hmm. Would he have given me his only bottle? Or did I procure this elsewhere? The mysteries of The Bottle Backlog at Chez Woody swirl around.

From the bottle: "Extra Quality".

I Pop!ped the cap with no real expectations of quality. As such, I still conducted a slow, gentle pour into the awaiting glass & then performed an in-glass swirl to raise two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, bone-white head with decent retention. Color was Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity, prompting a visit from The Gelt Gang of Mammon, Midas & Croesus. Nose smelled more like a Euro Lager than a German Plisner, kind of sweetish, but lacking in any real character. Mouthfeel was thin & watery. The taste was honey-like, but that was about it. There was nothing to distinguish it from any other cheaply made Lager-style beer. It was really lacking in taste, but at least it did not taste bad. Finish was semi-dry, but so what? This is a beer made for a hot, humid day in the outdoors when anything cold and wet will be refreshing. Otherwise, it is a big nothing. YMMV.

Taste: Bready, conspicuously husky mixture of both pale and pils malts with a faint degree of supporting sweetness. Spicy, vaguely herbaceous hops with a low level of bitterness to counter. The flavors quickly washes out beyond a hint of pervasive buttery diacetyl until reaching the quite dry, crisp finish.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Medium-plus carbonation.

Drinkability: Subpar but essentially tolerable (at best). Perhaps when in Lebanon you could get it LebanON with Almaza, but, otherwise, it's best to just pass it by.

Lebonon....they make beer?!?!? Your sh&tin me! C'mon...no way. How do they have time to make beer between morter attacked from Syria??? Well it is true my friends...Lebonon has a beer and it is not too bad. I have been trying to find an analogous beer to compare and the best I can come up with is Heiniken/Stella Artoisish type beer. It is golden in color, white head, not much smell, decent taste, and could be drunk at any bomb shelter soiree! Drink up my friends!